Monday, March 14, 2011

Building a Brand for West Mesa: Pt I

The Case for Cultural Branding and Placemaking in our community.

"The best vision is insight." - - Malcolm Forbes

West Mesa: A Brand Strategy
West Mesa is a special place. Situated centrally within Phoenix's desirable East Valley, it has neighborhoods of universally affordable homes and bargain rate property taxes. It's history creates a cultural texture that is at once both unique and accessible. Most importantly, in a time of manufactured suburbs and ubiquitous corporate retail, West Mesa is a community where a pioneering energy can still be felt, and the average person can still make a difference.

Branding

Why do we need Branding?
West Mesa will not be revitalized by the availability of upscale shopping. It is not feasible now or any time within the foreseeable future that private developers will "bulldoze" our older neighborhoods and build a new, homogeneous suburb again. Our community is, and will continue to be made of diverse, integrated neighborhoods, centrally located within the East Valley. Our community has evolved and our identity should celebrate celebrate our unique strengths.

The Power of Branding
Nearly every Fortune 500 multinational company that competes for the public's embrace positions Brand strategy at the core of their business. Cincinnati, Ohio's Proctor & Gamble produces Twenty Four unique Brands for 80 different countries, and is credited with introducing the innovation of “Brand Management Strategy” to the business world.
For P&G, Branding is the primary consideration in all of their development efforts: the creation of intellectual property and design, marketing, and advertising. It is comprehensive, user-focused, and relies upon three key devices:

Strategy- It is created with a specific consumer in mind, with intense understandings of their habits, sensibilities, and values.
Experiential- It creates a string of harmonious, concise experiences that reinforce a compelling message and create lasting emotional imprints. It compels people to think and imagine for themselves.
Story-telling- It creates a humanized identity for a product or entity, that people can identify and empathize with, and trust.

A comprehensive Brand strategy for West Mesa should invite idealism and leverage the synergy of shared values. In this way, strategy for West mesa should rely upon the concept of Cultural Branding to invite distinctly value-driven residents, entrepreneurs, and investors into our community.

Part II of the series >>


Resources
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/95/design-qa.html
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/brandequity/

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